This study examined biopsychosocial factors related to body dissatisfaction in young men within multivariate and moderator contexts. A female sample was included as a gender comparison. Male (n = 111) and female (n = 236) undergraduates filled out self-report questionnaires assessing body mass index (BMI), media influence, a history of weight-related teasing, and socially prescribed perfectionism, along with various indices of body dissatisfaction. Perceived pressure from the media was consistently related to body dissatisfaction in men whereas multiple biopsychosocial variables accounted for body dissatisfaction in women. Socially prescribed perfectionism and a history of weight teasing each moderated the relationship between BMI and male body dissatisfaction, identifying men low in body dissatisfaction. Findings indicate that applying a biopsychosocial framework to the study of body dissatisfaction in men is useful and suggest the need for including other factors, such as male peers and sports involvement, in understanding contributors to male body image.
Research on body dissatisfaction among males has gained momentum in recent years (Grogan, 2007; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004; Thompson & Cafri, 2007). Evidence indicates that rates of body dissatisfaction are increasing among males (Garner, 1997) and that body dissatisfaction is associated with unhealthy weight-control behaviors, disordered eating, and decreased self-esteem in males (Cohane & Pope, 2001; Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Story, & Perry, 2003; Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2004). Arguably, within the body image literature, more is known about female body dissatisfaction than about male body dissatisfaction, and more is known about the consequences of body dissatisfaction than about the factors associated with and contributing to negative body image (Bearman, Presnell, Martinez, & Stice, 2006; van den Berg et al., 2007). In the current study, we examine factors associated with male body dissatisfaction using a biopsychosocial framework, which has been proposed as the most comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding body image (Ricciardelli, McCabe, Holt, & Finemore, 2003). While our focus is on elucidating contributors to male body dissatisfaction, we also include a female sample to provide a gender comparison.
